


Haematic

by jellobabies



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of sexualcontent, Multi, Tokyo Ghoul AU, but nothing explicit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 21:30:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2707448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellobabies/pseuds/jellobabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tokyo Ghoul AU. They were all monsters in their own sort of way and in their own sort of way they were all broken and afraid and doing their best to survive. It didn't matter that some were ghouls and some were humans and some where freaks somewhere in between, because they all just wanted to survive and live their lives. The only problem was, no one on any side seemed to realize that. It was a selfish world and Izaya only added to the selfishness while Shizuo did his best just to keep his life as normal as it could be. But a world so selfish can only try to take and take until Shizuo had no more and had to rely on the most selfish person in the world to keep him from being taken as well<br/>Or, Izaya is an asshole even as a ghoul and Shizuo seems to be the most delicious thing on the planet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is Tokyo Ghoul AU for Durarara so it is set in the Tokyo Ghoul Universe with the cast of Durarara. I wrote this for NaNoWriMo so it will be at least 50,000 words but most likely it will be more because there's still an ending to write.  
> With the Tokyo Ghoul Universe comes all the wards that ghouls live in and I have done my best to stay true to the wards and descriptions. Some wards however do not have a description so I had to just develope my own. I did match up the locations in Tokyo with the wards as best I could.  
> A few small changes were made to the wards as well which will be apparent in the fic itself. Where as Anteiku was located in the 20th ward in the original Tokyo Ghoul, it is located in th 4th ward where Shinjuku is located.  
> That's all I can really think of for now.  
> It will be updated as I go and edit the original NaNoWriMo copy so I'll try my best to edit as quickly as I can

The buzzing alarm echoed through the silence at exactly 6:30am and was followed by a groan and the creak of an old mattress before a large hand slammed itself on the snooze button, silencing the clock. Shizuo sat up in his bed with a sigh and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. Just another day. It was just another normal day he told himself. And hopefully it would be a very normal day of just work. At least things had been alright recently.   
His job was annoying but decent and the clients had just been a little less irritating lately. It was a nice break from the usual stream of stupid and annoying.  
He went to his bathroom and took a quick shower and brushed his teeth. He wasn't the type to care excessively about his appearance but he cared enough not to make Tom look bad when they were out on a job together. There was also no worries about clothing since he wore his bartender's uniform every day. It didn't matter that he no longer had that job. It was something Kasuka had given to him, so it was important. Plus, it made it easier to get ready in the morning, he'd have to admit. He noticed that morning in the mirror that his brunette roots were starting to show against his long locks of bleached blonde hair. He'd have to get those redone soon. They were such a hassle and really he thought about just not bothering with them anymore. He was an adult now, wasn't he? Was there really any use keeping his hair this color anymore?  
But those thoughts could be saved for another time and not be bothered with now. He had to get to work.  
After his normal morning routine of grooming enough to look somewhat together and his morning glass of milk and breakfast of plain toast, he headed out of his apartment with cellphone and keys in hand.  
Things were normal. 

_____________

Ryuugamine stepped off the train early that morning, not sure of what to expect. It was crowded, sure. There were people bustling about, not minding anyone but themselves and he found it a little odd and it made him feel quite small. Back in the countryside, almost everyone knew his name but here, no one seemed to care who he was or even that he existed and he wasn't sure how he felt about it just yet.  
But he was sure of one thing. He was ready for his new life adventure that he was sure was guaranteed for him since he was now in Tokyo.  
Ryuugamine glanced around the train station, trying to find traces of a familiar face and subconsciously tugged at the messenger bag slung across his chest. All the unfamiliar faces blended in together and he took another step forward only to be completely knocked off his feet by a stranger who was much too important and in too much of a hurry to look back at the adolescent who they knocked over.  
He made a small "oof" as he hit the hard tiled floors. It didn't hurt too much but it was still caught him off guard. What was even more unexpected was the hand that was outstretched towards him when he opened his eyes from the ground. It was quite small, extremely pale and surrounded by a fur cuff.  
"You should watch where you're going, ne?" said the voice.  
Ryuugamine took the hand outstretched towards him. He was far too trusting. The hand helped pull him up and at eye level and he got a better look at who it was.  
It seemed to be a young man with sly eyes and dark black hair wearing a fur trimmed jacket. Were those eyes red?  
"Th-thank you" Ryuugamine stuttered.  
"Izaya Orihara. You are?" he asked as he put both hands in his pockets and leaned back a little, nonchalantly. There was something about him.  
"I'm Ryuugamine Mikado, it's nice to meet you" the boy said and gave a little bow.  
"Ryuugamine. I'll be sure to keep eye my out for you. Enjoy Ikebukuro" he said before turning away and running off.  
Izaya seemed to be a strange man that popped up into existence and disappeared again with little warning prior and little to anchor him to the real world as he flitted about. There was something off about the way he smiled and something about the way he walked like he wasn't anchored to the same laws of reality as everyone else.   
Ryuugamine gave a sigh and kept walking through the station. It had been a good twenty minutes and he was a little exasperated with it all. He was confused about the area and he was unsure about what to do so he took out his cellphone to see if his friend had contacted him.  
At the beginning of the summer, Ryuugamine's childhood friend Kida Masaomi encouraged him to come to Tokyo for high school. They had been good friends as children but Masaomi ended up moving away in middle school though the two still continued to communicate through chat rooms. It was all Ryuugamine had wanted, an opportunity for a more exciting life.  
There were a few previous messages on his phone from prior conversations with Masaomi but there were nothing from that day. What was he to do now.   
His heart skipped a beat when a familiar voice called out his name.  
"Ryuumgamine!"  
He turned his head towards the voice but found a face that was only slightly familiar. The smile was all the same but the hair surprised him. He wasn't expecting someone blonde.  
"Kida! Long time no see" he said with a bright smile.  
Pleasantries were exchanged among the two of them. There was some small talk and a few awkward silences but eventually they found it easy to slip back into how they were in middle school, speaking freely and Masaomi reciting too many awful jokes while Ryuugamine awkwardly laughed along.   
The two of them exited the train station and made their way down the streets of mid-morning Ikebukuro. The streets were mostly cleared at this point. It was quite sparse in people,at least to Kida, but to Ryuugamine who had never been in the city for extended periods of time, it seemed to be incredibly lively.  
"You must be excited to attend Raira! It's going to be amazing. We're going to have so many adventures, Ryuugamine. There are going to be pretty babes and I'll do my best to save some for you but I don't know. Women just can't resist themselves around me, you know. I could give you some tips" Masaomi said.  
"Uh huh." Ryuugamine responded.  
That was the way their conversation went for a while. That was until a group of people spotted the two of them and began waving. They were all standing next to a van that was parked on a corner and there were four adults just standing around. There was one woman in black and another man with squinted eyes standing next to her. There was one person sitting in the driver's seat of the van and the fourth leaned against the vehicle with a beanie atop his head. They all looked to be in their twenties or so and the man wit the squinted eyes and lady in black chatted animatedly over something Ryuugamine couldn't really decipher.   
"Hey Kida!" said the one man with a beanie over his head. "Who's that with you?"  
"H-hello! I'm Ryuugamine Mikado" the boy responded and gave a little bow while his friend stood beside him with his ever present charming smile. He wondered how his friend was acquainted with such peculiar looking adults.  
"Is that really your name? Wow that's really cool" said the only girl in the group."I'm Erika." She was relatively pretty with dark hair and dark clothes. There was something about the group of them that reminded Ryuugamine of the strange man named Izaya from before. There was something about all of them that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Though their words were welcoming, Kadota stood with his arms crossed and his fingers looked like they were clasping his own arms quite hard. The man with the slanted eyes had his hands balled into fists, shoved in his pocket.   
"Yeah that's my real name" he said a little, a little shy.   
"You have some pretty cool friends, Kida." noted the other man in the group with the squinted eyes and blonde hair. "I'm Walker."  
"It's nice to meet you all" Ryuugamine said with another polite bow.  
"What are you all doing just hanging outside this time of day?" Kida asked them all, not noticing the tension between the adults. It took him a moment to realize why.  
"We're just waiting for a delivery" Kadota said simply.  
KIda nodded but his eyes were a little wide as if realizing something.  
"Hey, Ryuugamine let's get going, much more things to see!" Masaomi said with his ever present enthusiasm and actually reached over to grab his friend's hand and pulled him back towards the sidewalk and down the street.  
"Wait Kida, where are we going?" he asked.   
"Let's go to the park!" Kida said in a spur of the moment sort of idea. As the two walked down the street the roar of a motorcycle engine could be heard down the street. Ryuugamine looked into the distance, trying to find the source of the sound but Kida's hand pulled him onward. Still, after a few moments a black motorcycle with a black clad rider rushed past the two and as it did, Masaomi gave a sharp tug at Ryuugamine's hand, pulling him along the sidewalk like they were children.   
"Hurry up, the park waits for no one!" Masaomi said with a smile although Ryuugamine swore he saw some sort of worry in his friend’s eyes.

 

When Shizuo showed up in the office building that housed the small debt collection agency that he worked for, Tom was already there waiting for him. He wasn't late by any means but apparently they had a very busy day ahead of them. There were plenty of people that weren't paying their debts and Tom had to deal with them while Shizuo stood there and tried not to do anything unnecessary while intimidating the clients enough to get them what they wanted.  
Their first client was, surprisingly, a rich individual who just happened to forget to pay his dues. Thats what he said to the men, at least. It didn't matter to either of them since the man was perfectly willing to hand the two of them the money to take care of his debts. That was a surprisingly easy job and Shizuo walked away from it only slightly ruffled.  
As the two of them continueddown the streets of Ikebukuro towards the home of their second client, Shizuo took a package of cigarettes from his vest pocket and lit one before sticking it between his lips, letting the smoke fill up his lungs and ease his nerves. He was busy watching the smoke drift off into the air through his tinted sunglasses when two high school students ran past him, almost bumping into him and Tom.  
"Oi, you kids should watch where you're going" Shizuo said after turning around to face the two boys. He recognized one of them, the blonde kid, butcouldn't exactly remember how. The kid somehow reminded him of Izaya which didn't help lower his annoyance.  
"Sorry about that, Mr. Heiwajima!" said the blonde with a sheepish smile before continuing along with his friend.  
"Tch."  
The kid knew his name but then again most people in the city did. But unlke most people in the city, the kid didn't seem too afraid. It didn't really matter to Shizuo as long as the kid didn't bother him any further.  
The next house turned out to be in a bad part of town. It was run down and falling apart at the seams. The shingles on the roof were starting to fall off and the shutters were nailed close. When Tom went to go knock on the door, the old wood creaked and he swore if he knocked any harder his fist would go through the rotten wood.  
The door opened after a couple moments and behind it was a thuggish looking man with a rugged appearance and very cheap looking tattoos covering his bare arms.  
"What do y'all want" he said with a slur.  
Shizuo took another step forward just in case. The man looked like he could possibly resort to violence and just Shizuo's appearance seemed to intimidate the man a little but also angered him since he was obviously intoxicatedand not in the right state of mind.  
Tom explained the situation to the man who then started to list off a million of excuses here and there. It was a common thing the two of them had to deal with. After some harsh words were exchanged and some violent threats that Shizuo really didn't like giving but had no control over coming through his lips, the man agreed to pay back his debts. It was a standard case.  
"I think it's time for a break now. Is that fine with you, Shizuo?" Tom asked after the second ordeal was done with.  
"That's fine with me" he said and stubbed out his cigarette by dropping it to the sidewalk and stepping on it. The two of them had their lunch at a nearby fast food restaurant. There was small talk, and menial conversation exchanged. But that was about it. The two men were friends but Shizuo never found many words to say and Tom never tried to force any out. 

 

The last client was in another part of the city altogether where there were rundown apartments and things were constantly dropping and breaking. By then it was already late evening and there were still some shady figures walking down the street.

 

The apartment buildings were all run down at the railings were rust covered and grimy. The balcony on the second floor felt unsteady and Shizuo was worried that it might not be able to hold his weight as they walked up the rusty metal stairs. It seemed like he'd fall through the steps at any second. 

 

As always, Tom was the one to approach the door and knock on it. They were both surprised, however, to find a woman on the other side of the door with long, stringy black hair and eyes with dark bags underneath them. Her dress was covered in what looked like dirt stains and was all ragged and torn around her ankles.There was something off about her. Her appearence set off all of Shizuo's alarms that something was wrong. Tom was confused since the client on the list he had been given said that it would be a man and took out the papers from his pocket just to double check.   
"Hello miss, I'm a member from the collection agency. Is Mr. Asuka home?" he asked.  
She ignored his question completely.  
"You. You're Heiwajima Shizuo right?" she asked in a voice asrough as a metalfiling. She hung against the door frame with a slouch and had to look up at them.  
"I am. " Shizuo said with a frown. "But Tom asked you a question. Is Mr. Asuka home."

"Mr. Asuka is just inside, please, come in" the woman said and stood up a little straighter.   
Shizuo was a little hesitant. There seemed to be something wrong about the woman.  
"I think it would be best if he just came to meet us at the door" Tom said. Good, Shizuo thought, It was safer that way and if he needed to intervene, he always could. 

Instead of stepping back inside the apartment, however, she took a step towards the two men.  
Shizuo immediately registered the danger and directly placed himself between Tom and the woman but that was exactly what she was anticipating.   
All at once she lunged at him.   
His first instinct was to push Tom out of the way. The next was to fight back. He tried to fight back against her and grabbed at her arms that already attached themselves at his sides and her nails dug painfully into his upper arm and shoulders. He tried to push her off but found that for the first time in his life, his strength seemed to fail him and he had no advantage over her. They were evenly matched. At least that's what he thought until she pushed him against the ledge and easily pinned him down there. He couldn't move and he couldn't push her off him and he panicked, Without his strength there was nothing to stop her. Still, he strained and tried.   
He looked up and saw hermonstrous and terrifying face. Where there was supposed to be whites in her eyes there was black and her irises were bright red and it reminded him of a certain informant he despised. Her teeth were out and ready and he was completely unprepared for what to do when she sunk herself into his shoulder.   
The pain was unbearable, worse than anything he had every experienced before. And Shizuo wasn't used to pain. He was used to his body easily blocking it out, but not this time. The adrenaline was there to help but it was still sharp and awful and he felt tears sting at his eyes and he could feel his throat as he screamed aloud but the only thing he could hear was his own heart pounding in his ears and his first thought was how would Kasuka feel if he died.   
He tried to throw her off but her arms had already pinned his down and he couldn't move them and he found he couldn't move anything and felt utterly powerless against her.  
He could hear himself scream when she ripped out a chunk of his shoulder and he felt everything in front of his eyes go black. He could still feel the pain but his grip on her loosened and everything in front of his eyes went black and he found he couldn't move.   
He couldn't fight back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than I wanted it to be but editing just got to me so I just decided to post the one part I actually got edited. I couldn't find a lot of information on the type of wound Shizuo got so the accuracy may be a little bit bleh. But I hope you all enjoy.   
> Also, the one and only OC is introduced here and depending on reader's preferences, I can take her role out more or less. Opinions in comments would really help with that. I know a lot of people don't like OCs so yep.

The sun was still out and things were far too serene when Izaya stepped off the train to Ikebukuro.Normally, Izaya tried to avoid trains at all costs but he secretly hoped he would run into a certain blonde and stir up a little trouble. . Unfortunately, he did not encounter him on the train.   
But that didn't really matter. It gave him another chance to watch people much more intimately than usual. But eventually he concluded from that that probably wasn't his favorite way to people watch. As much as he loved his humans, being so close to them made him feel so much less of a god. He wouldn't try it again.   
After stepping off the train, he began to wander about the streets of Ikebukuro but found that there was no yelling blonde beast to confront him or hinder him in any way. It used to be that every time he merely stepped off the train into the city, he could feel the coming onslaught of flying vending machines and road signs. No, today was different. It was disgustingly peaceful, quiet. It was wrong. 

There was a small cafe on the corner of a small unimportant street that was quaint and quiet but had the perfect window for people watching. People rarely came in, but they always passed by. It was the perfect place to watch without getting too close.  
He sat at one of the small two person tables near the large glass window with a cup of black coffee in front of him, brought to him by one of the waitresses that always seemed to be working whenever he decided to come by and knew his preferences without him needing to tell her. He spoke to her occasionally, just for the fun of it, just to see what he could get out of her. There was little she liked to speak about and it made it more fun for him to try and crack her open. But he was sure he was getting there. He was almost sure he knew what she was. 

She only drank black coffee and she was always working and there seemed to be something going on with her and the owner and he could guess that this was a small operation he should soon take over for his own benefit. There were only so many businesses available in the ghoul world and he wanted all of them under his finger.   
He fished out one of his cellphones from his jacket pocket and scanned through all the contacts there. This phone was filled with people just suited for finding Shizuo, ruining Shizuo, all of those fun things Izaya didn't want to admit he did in his free time just for the fun of it. Really, Shizuo was just someone he always enjoyed playing with and irritatingly enough, the beast was always on his mind. He found the name he was looking for and dialed it.. 

"Hello, this is the debt collection agency, I'm Saki Fukui, how may I help you today?" asked the pleasant female voice on the other end.   
"Hello Ms. Fukui. I'm looking for Shizuo Heiwajima? He left his cellphone over at my house and I wanted to return it to him as soon as I can" he said, almost sweetly as if he were some sort of lover of Shizuo's.  
"Oh well, he won't be returning back to the office today" she said, trailing off at the end, trying to think of a way to get the man's cellphone back to him, not at all questioning Izaya.   
"Can you give me where he'll be today? I'm sure I can run into him"  
"Well" she said, a little hesitant "the location of our clients are meant to be confidential.."  
"Oh please Ms. Fukui, I just want to give him back his cellphone. He told me he's been expecting a call from his mother, I'm sure he's a wreck without it. He's been so worried about her recently, you know. She's just had surgery on her knee and he's always so absent minded because of it" Izaya went on.   
She was a new secretary, he knew. She was just much too easy. Another client of his had interacted with her before and to find a full profile of her was effortless.   
And the thought of helping handsome men like Shizuo always easily persuaded such a woman.   
"Well, I guess I can give you the general area. He'll be somewhere near Shibuya" she said and gave him a general description of the area. Shibuya. That wasn't good at all.   
It wasn't like he cared much about the beast of Ikebukuro, but he wasn't about to let some other monster take Shizuo from him. Even ghouls had to know their place under Izaya.   
"Thank you so much Ms. Fukui. Ah I should also add it would be best Shizuo didn't know I called, he'd be so embarrassed you know"  
"Of course!" she said and he could hear her cheery smile over the phone. Humans were just so much fun. 

Izaya closed the cellphone and considered his options. He'd have to get there soon. It wasn't guaranteed another ghoul would come get Shizuo but how could he be sure. The beast lived in Ikebukuro, the 16th ward. That one was relatively docile. That wasn't to say ghouls didn't live there but they were always on the low. And no one would suspect a ghoul like Izaya to live in Shinjuku so he was relatively safe, in one way or another. 

He made his way discreetly towards the area, taking a cab this time. He didn't want to waste any time and he wanted to get there before Shizuo. There was a certain individual he needed to contact first who he knew lived in Shibuya. So he messaged her on one of his many phones.   
Kanra: I need a favour from you

It took a few minutes to get a response which was nothing short of a miracle because he didn't even expect her to be sober enough to pick up a cell phone at this time of day. 

Izumi: payin me??

Kanra: Of course. Same way as usual. I just need you to tell me whether or not a ghoul lives at this address or anywhere around it 

He sent her the address that the secretary had given him prior.

Izumi: ye. really bad ghoul . total bitch. eats fuckinn everything in sight. bones. CCG named her the scrapper. why you askin?

Kanra: Just protecting an investment

Izumi: wow. gay. want me to keep a look out

How generous of her. He assumed she was far too out of her mind to even suggest doing anything extra for him so he deemed her no help. Her information however, was always reliable. No matter how many chemicals she put there her mind seemed to do fine. The same wasn't to say about her physical body but that didn't matter as much to him. 

Kanra: No, what you've given me is sufficient. 

The cab driver was a little hesitant to drive Izaya to that side of town. It was dangerous as well as run down and just an overall bad place to be. It was filled with gang members and ghouls alike hat had no qualms fighting each other and the CCG always kept an eye out. But even with the ever impending doves, ghouls still continued to flock there . 

He got out of the taxi after paying the man and took a quick glance around. Izaya had asked the man to drop him off about a block away from the address and kept walking in that direction, being sure to stay under the metal railings of the apartment buildings so he couldn't be seen.   
As long as he walked confidently, no one ever questioned his presence   
He could smell the other ghoul in the air. She was close by and he could tell she was absolutely vile. The stench of corpses was clear, why was Shizuo here how could he not realize it. What an idiotic beast.

The sound is what surprised him. He had never heard it before and it made his stomach twist into a knot and his heart drop. Shizuo screamed at the top of his lungs, like an animal dying in the cruelest of ways and Izaya could feel his kakugan come out and from there there was no turning back.   
A smart ghoul always carried around their mask so Izaya's was always hidden on the inside of his jacket. It was in the shape of a skull and was shaped so it also covered the top and back of his head so that his hair couldn't be seen. He was so infamous around Tokyo that it would be easy for people to recognize him and he couldn't have that. He also stripped himself of his shirt and jacket so it wouldn't get in the way of his kagune which sprouted from his back as soon as the articles of clothing were removed.   
His ukaku was bright crimson and violet, shimmering even without light and looked like feathers made of shards of glass and obsidian that could launch themselves at prey. It was in great shape since Izaya knew it was best to keep himself well fed. There was no place in the world for weak, foolish ghouls. 

He ran towards the sound, the awful and horrifying sound of his beast screaming. No one was allowed to try and eat him and this ghoul would surely pay. It never crossed his mind why he was thinking these things. He assumed it was because he had vowed to kill Shizuo and no one else was allowed that privilege.  
He saw them against the balcony and could see Shizuo being pinned down to the metal railing that could give at any moment. He jumped up there with ease though gis ukaku helped with that. The feathers shot themselves at the female ghoul that currently had a chunk of flesh in her mouth. She would die. The feathers were blocked by her arms and she tore them out of her flesh as soon as they hit.

The informant had to remind himself to remain calm when he saw nothing but red in his eyes and the death of the Scrapper ghoul underneath his finger tips. Messing up was not an option. Not when his precious beast was involved. He jumped in between Shizuo and the ghoul. It was unsure if Shizuo was even conscious anymore or had blacked out from the pain or shock. She had gotten quite a huge chunk out of him. To his left was still Tanaka Tom who stood there in horror and had tried to help but could do very little. Izaya turned to him as his wings spread and shielded the beast behind him from the sight of the other ghoul.   
Tom caught the eyes of the skull and understood when Izaya nudged his head and he quickly got himself to Shizuo, slinging the other man's arm over his shoulder and pulling him out of the way. Shizuo was still conscious enough to walk but everything was mostly a blur to him. 

"Who the fuck are you? Get out of the way of my meal" the other ghoul screeched.   
He didn't want Tom to hear him and recognize his voice and didn't answer her and took a step towards her. She lunged at him but he wasn't a weak ghoul.  
She was obviously well fed but then again so was Izaya and he found her to be no threat. She hadn't yet released her kagune, probably assuming she didn't need to use it to take down Shizuo. Unfortunately for Shizuo, she had been right. One wing wrapped itself around Izaya's front, deterring her from continuing any further towards Izaya or the persons behind him.

Now that Izaya was in her way, she finally decided that her kagune would be the best way to get rid of the nuisance. It was a bikaku, a tail that came from her lower back and extended itself to try and get to Shizuo but was foiled by the Izaya's great wingspan and from there she decided to focus all her attention on Izaya. It wasn't as if Shizuo was a meal she desperately needed. 

With all of the commotion between ghouls and their kagune, Tom saw his chance to get away with Shizuo whose eyes were still open but unseeing and was highly shaken up by the whole thing. His legs felt like gelatin and could hardly move but through some miracle, they made it down the rickety metal stairs and out of sight of the ghoul while Izaya was keeping her distracted.   
On the road there was already a taxi waiting and Tom approached it.   
"Hop on in. Your fare is already paid for." the driver told him.   
"Excuse me?" Tom asked, highly suspicious.   
"Someone told me to get you two out of here and take you to the hospital, sir, and by the way your friend looks, I think that'd be best" the driver said.   
Tom decided to not question it any longer and helped Shizuo into the cab, being wary of the bleeding shoulder he could do little about other than take off his jacket and press the fabric against the gaping wound. It was quite gruesome and there were bits of grey and white matter in the wound that Tom could only assume as bone protruding from the flesh.  
The cab driver drove off towards the nearest hospital. he refused to answer any questions as to who it was that called the cab so Tom had a small suspicion as to who it was. It was probably someone who always kept tabs on Shizuo, he assumed.

With Shizuo and Tom out of the way Izaya was ready. He didn't know where the two went but he assumed Tom was a smart enough man to get them out of the area and most likely to the nearest hospital. Now he had time to focus on the female ghoul in front of him. He had never encountered her before but he had certainly heard of the Scrapper ghoul. She preyed on weak humans that no one would ever miss and she took on so many she was one of the ghouls in the 13th ward that drew so much attention. All the ghouls there had to be on constant watch of the doves.

No one would miss this ghoul, he knew that for sure. So he took a jump back, knowing she would follow and that she did. He needed more room than the balcony there and he refused to have a disadvantage. An ukaku had a high advantage against a bikaku so he could play with her as long as he wanted and make sure she suffered.  
His feathers wouldn't do too much if she could block them but if he kept sending them her way it would be impossible for him to continue trying to block them.   
She was better fed than him, though, he knew that for sure but that only gave a small leg up. He'd still get rid of her.   
He jumped backwards and landed on the ground and she followed and his wings sent more razor sharp feathers her way. With a quick spin, he launched one forcefully enough to lodge it in her neck. 

He could hear the gurgling in her throat as she sank to the ground, trying to get it out. The other wounds would easily heal, stab wounds by ukaku feathers were nothing, but something like this could end her. So as she knelt upon the dirty street, trying to grasp at her neck, Izaya approached her with slow, deliberate steps so she had more time to fear. His wings continued to send shards of feathers her way that she was surrounded by a field of sharp glass-like spikes.   
Normally, he didn't give a damn if a ghoul was greedy and took as much food as they wanted. Ghouls could do what they wanted to his precious humans.   
He didn't really care about ghouls and interacted with only the ones that hired him for information or any other service that he provided them.  
But this ghoul had crossed the line and went after his beloved beast who was no human and could not be eaten by something as disgusting as a ghoul.   
"You asked me who I am" Izaya said from behind the mask and bent down towards her. "I'm Izaya Orihara and you played with my toys" he told her.   
The CCG had never given him a nickname because he was smart enough not to ever get caught by them.  
He wanted her continue to suffer but just the sight of her made irritated him to no end so one swift kick was all it took to separate her head from the rest of her body which then collapsed onto the floor. It wouldn't matter who found her body. It was a ghoul's and their lives weren't worth a grain of salt to the humans.There would be no further investigation unless Izaya was a ghoul who constantly attacked other ghouls and humans but he wasn't. He didn't even live in the 13th ward.   
He walked over to make sure she was indeed dead, although there was very little doubt. Decapitation was the surefire way to kill most anything. 

Once he was completely sure, he went back over to the apartment buildings, finding the spot where he had discarded his jacket and shirt and put the articles of clothing back on before taking off his mask and putting it away again. He should probably find out whether or not Shizuo even lived or ended up bleeding to death. 

A small ringing from his pocket grabbed his attention and he saw it was a message from a previous little friend of his. 

Izumi: u owe me. 

He gave a scowl. There really wasn't any need for her to interfere and he really didn't want to owe her a favor. The bitch was always so demanding but it didn't matter. It was time to get himself home and deal with everything else he had put off to deal with today.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sincere apologies for this chapter, editing is just seriously killing me and I know it's also a little late. I'm going to try and update at least once a week at this point.  
> Also, if you have any further questions about the fic or the rules of the universe or anything feel free to either go in the comments or drop an ask on my tumblr which is in my profile yep.  
> But really, thank you for reading.

Ryuugamine's first couple of days at Raira were, all in all, uneventful and for some reason he felt highly disappointed in it all. He expected school in the city to be more exciting and he had heard rumors from other students and internet forums about previous years where the school was the site for the phenomena of flying vending machines and fighting teenagers. He had also heard whispers and murmurs about ghouls roaming around Ikebukuro although the area was relatively safer than others when it came to ghouls.

 

But Ryuugamine could describe his school life as of far, simply boring.

Kida didn't show up two days out of the week and Ryuugamine didn't know why.  
"Where were you yesterday? I have all the notes in Biology you missed" he said over the phone on the second night that Kida wasn’t there. Ryuugamine was alone on his bed in his small two room apartment on the outskirts of Ikebkuro. There were flickering lights and old, tattered tatami mats but there was also a large desktop computer Ryuugamine sat in front of while he spoke to his friend over the phone.

"Just wasn't feeling it you know. I'm a free spirit, Ryuugamine, I have to let myself be free" Kida said dramatically over the phone and Ryuugamine could just imagine waving his hand around dismissively at the statement. It didn't mean he still wasn't worried,

That was the first response. Every time afterwards there was always a different excuse but it always sounded ridiculous and vague. Kida didn't seem to have a very straight story set.

"I wasn't feeling too good."

"I just wanted to stay home"

"Don't worry about me Ryuugamine."

It made Ryuugamine highly suspicious but he didn't know what to do. He started to become worried at that point, thinking his friend might be deathly sick and just wasn't telling him. Or maybe Kida was leading a second life and was secretly the leader of an infamous color gang and just hid well it from him. The ridiculous possibilities all went through his mind but there was little he could really find proof to.

The third time Kida didn't appear in class, he decided to just directly confront the other boy. They were friends, if it was something big Kida shouldn't have to hide it from him. It wasn't fair and he didn't come all the way to Tokyo just to be avoided by his best friend. No cold lasted that long, right? There had to be something wrong. And they were best friends since middle school. There shouldn't be any secrets between the two of them.

Kida lived on a secluded section of Ikebukuro with spaced out apartment buildings and Kida's apartment resided on the corner of the clustered buildings, the closest one to the street on the second floor.  
Ryuugamine went up the stairs that were a little dirty and in the cracks of thecement, small weeds and buds began to grow. The paint was starting to chip off in certain places of the cement.

He went up to the door and knocked on it. There was some shuffling behind the door and what seemed to be the sound of something delicate falling over and breaking and the sound of some profanities that Ryuugamine didn't recognized as Kida's voice.

The door swung open to reveal someone that was indeed not Kida. She had short bobbed black hair, and rusty brown eyes that were covered by large round glasses. She wore only a minimal amount of clothing, a tank top and what looked to sleeping shorts. Poor Ryuugamine immediately covered his eyes when she came out with a small shriek.

"I'm so so sorry! U-um I was looking for Kida" Ryuugamine said as his face flushed bright red.

The girl was a little flustered and quickly shut the door. He assumed that she just ran away from him and didn't want to face any more strangers in her underwear and he turned to leave and try to find some other way to find Kida. There was always the possibility that he had somehow mistakenly stumbled upon the wrong apartment.  
He was startled when the door reopened and the girl now donned a longcardigan that reached her mid-thigh to cover up a majority of herself.

"I'm so sorry about that" she said in a very soft but high voice.

"No I'm sorry" Ryuugamine said, turning back towards her. "But I'm just looking for my friend KidaMasaomi" he paused when he came to a sudden conclusion. "Are you his girlfriend?"  
 

"What no" she stammered and shook her hands out in front of her to further refute the statement. "Me and Kida aren't dating. I just uh... we live together it's a little complicated but there's nothing scandalous going on, really!! I'm sorry um he's just out right now and won't be back for a while" she said just as softly as before. "I'll tell him that you stopped by though" she said.

"Oh okay well thank you. Oh um, I'm Ryuugamine MIkado " he said with a polite bow.

"Oh I'm Anri Sonohara" she said in response and bowed back just as politely. The two were stammering, polite teenagers that seemed to be a perfect match for each other on the outside. It was a shame neither of them noticed it.

"Don't you....don't you go to school with us?" Ryuugamine asked.

"Hm? Oh um...I do. But I've been out sick for the last few days."

He assumed that maybe that was why Kida had been gone. Maybe he was out taking care of this girl back at his apartment. But she didn't look very sick other then her pasty looking skin andsmall skinny figure that was dwarfed by her full chest. Her cheeks did look a little sunken in when Ryugamine really looked but it was impolite to point out the flaws in a lady so he said nothing.

"I guess I'll be going now" he said and turned to leave and heard the apartment door shut behind him.

He didn't want to go back to his apartment just yet. It was just an empty two room apartment with dirty tatami mats and flickering lights and it was incredibly lonely. The only type of social interaction he was able to have was through internet chat rooms and if that was the case he might as well have stayed back in the countryside.  
He wandered around the streets, as dangerous as it was, but he secretly hoped for something exciting to happen. He turned the corner from the street where Kida's apartment resided and continued on down it for a good block or so.  
In the alleyway down the road, there was some commotion but Ryuugamine couldn't exactly place his finger on what kind of noise it was. It was noisy, crunching sounds and wet sloshing accompanied by some yelling and shouting. He recognized one of the voices.

"I told you to get out of my territory."

"Come on, you haven't been here for months how is anyone supposed to know its your territory anymore" said a voice that Ryuugamine could swear was extremely familiar.

"It doesn't matter, small fry like you shouldn't be playing around here anyway!"

"Well I need to eat too!"

It was definitely Kida's voice, he was sure so he ran towards it. He wasn't prepared for what he saw.  
There was his friend Kida covered in blood and eyes looking demonic and monstrous. Eyes weren't supposed to be red and sclera were supposed to be white, not black. There was another man standing there with the same sort of eyes and extending from his back was some sort of tail that glowed gold and Ryuugamine didn't know what he was looking at but the word ghuol rang in his mind loud and clear.

"Kida?" he asked aloud.

"Ryuugamine!"

The man turned around to the teenager standing there at the head of the alley way and a grin grew on his face.  
"Is this a friend of yours? A classmate you saved in that little pretend game you play of being human? A snack you've been saving up for yourself?" he asked and approached Ryuugamine, who took only a step back but didn't have the nerves to run away. "And you said you had no food."

"What no, I wouldn't eat him" Kida cried.

"Well then you don't mind if I do right?" the tail lurched forward and Ryuugamine didn't know what to do when it wrapped itself around him, confining his arms to his sides and lifting him up from the ground.

"Aghhh! Help Kida!" He tried to kick and flail and get himself out of the grip of whatever it was that was wrapped around him to no avail. It felt like one long muscle and he assumed this was what it was like to be strangled by a boa constrictor.

"Stop it!" Kida yelled and out from his back sprang a similar looking appendage but this one looked more metallic and flat, like a large sheet of metal coming out from his shoulder blade.

"Not so fast" the other ghoul yelled and flung Ryuugamine hard against one of the walls to knock the boy out of commission before using his now free kagune to whip Kida out of the way. Lucky for Kida, his koukaku was strong enough to stand against the first blow but it was brittle enough that it might not withstand another.

"Ryuugamine!" he tried to swing his koukaku to slash against the other man but it was really no use. The other ghoul lunged towards him to swing a quick kick and whipped his tail at him again and it broke his koukaku into pieces. Kida yelped aloud at the pain as he was flung back into one of the walls from all the force of that one strike. The bricks of the building that collided with his back cracked a little and a few loose pieces fell from the walls and dust covered Kida's back along with bruises.  
With Kida presumably out of the way, the other male ghoul then approached the body of Ryuugamine that was now lying on the alleyway ground and groaning in pain.

"I wonder how fun it will be to eat you in front of your pathetic friend. Look at him" he bent down to grab Ryuugamine by his hair and pull up his face so he could see Kida on the other side.

"Did you know he was that kind of monster?" he asked with a grin. "Did you know that he was probably planning to eat you? That's the type of monster he is. That's the kind of monster we are."  
No. Kida wasn't a monster and he would never eat him. They had been friends for so long it was impossible. He wasn't a monster. But then again, what was Kida? He just couldn't think very clearly with his head pounding and the hairs feeling like they were being pulled from his scalp.

"But now he'll never get a chance now will he. " In one fluid movement, the ghoul lifted Ryuugamine by just grabbing him by the head and crushing it up against the wall. The pain was unbearable and he could almost feel his skull cracking, at least, he assumed this is what it would feel like.

"I'm really lazy, you know" he continued. He was so focused on the boy in front of him he didn't realize Kida slowly rising up from the ground behind him. Ghouls weren't human and as long as he was alive, he couldn't sit there and do nothing as his friend was being eaten.

Ryuugamine was always the friend that was there. Him and Kida had been friends for so long and even though he didn't know Kida was a monster it didn't matter to him. He was hoping to hiding it for forever. Ryuugamine was just so important to him he didn't know what to do but knew he had to do something.

"I don't like to chew my food" he said as his bikaku slowly began to wrap itself around his victim's waist, constricting his arms and abdomen again. "It's nicer when everything's all mushed together for me, already."  
The tail started to wrap itself tighter around him, cutting off his air. It was unbelievably painful, trying to breath in but not feeling his chest expand any. Every time he exhaled the tail tightened around him until he started to see spots in his vision. The thing that startled him the most was the sound of something cracking. It was probably a rib or two but all Ryuugamine was able to register was the pain. A small cry barely escaped his lips since there was hardly any air left in his lungs to make a sound.

"How does it sound, Kida?" he asked with a laugh and took a step closer to the boy who was now on the verge of blacking out from lack of air and from all the pain of his bones being crushed and his organs being smashed into mush. But Kida found he could hardly move. It wasn't as if he was in too much pain, no he could handle that in the first place. But he found himself frozen in place, unable to move and being too cowardly to try. But he had to.  
He had promised Ryuugamine that they would have adventures together in Tokyo, regardless of him being a ghoul and Ryuugamine being human although the boy didn't know that. But he had promised and Ryuugamine had been so optimistic and hopeful and excited. He couldn't let it end here, no it just wouldn't be right. That would be the ultimate wrong that could happen in such a tragic world and he couldn't allow it to happen.

"Stop" Kida said, as he slowly and painfully stood up from the dirty concrete ground. He felt his koukaku start to form again from his shoulder blades. He had enough energy for just one more try. Just one more time to save his friend. He didn't wait until the kagune reformed itself completely, there would be no more time then. He charged forward while the man was still distracted by Ryuugamine.

The other ghoul didn't realize it until it was too late, that Kida was there next to him, being there quicker than expected since he hadn't waited for his koukaku to reform first. It was there then, however, as a sharp metal blade extending from his shoulder blade and with one well aimed swing he lodged the metal extension of himself into the other ghoul's body, striking him right through the spine, between the shoulder blades. He only needed to drag it upwards with hard enough force to rip through the ghoul's neck and head, ending him and causing his bikaku to finally release his precious friend, dropping the human boy to the ground with a thud.

"Ryuugamine!" he cried as his kagune retracted itself into his body. He wasn't on the verge of starvation yet but his lack of consumption of meat was slowly starting to get to his head. Kida swallowed hard, trying to not think of his friend as any source of food. He had to focus on the task at hand. .  
Finally able to breath, Ryuugamine tried to take a sharp intake of breath but found that it hurt too much and ended up coughing, finding blood in his saliva.

"Please be okay, please" Kida pleaded, kneeling down next to his friend and taking out his cellphone. He didn't know who to call other than one doctor he knew who could treat ghouls and humans alike although his methods were a little more than unorthodox.

The number was already there on speed dial so he only needed to press the number. Most ghouls who were smart enough to have the doctor on speed dial at all times. He knew how to treat ghouls, although usually the remedy was just consuming more human meat but Kida was sure that the doctor had to have had human patients, being a human himself after all.

"Hello Shinra? I need help please, can you send Celty, please hurry. My friend, he's human I don't know if he's going to make it" the boy pleaded into the phone.

"What who is this, Kida? Just calm down and give me your location and I'll send my beloved Celty to you as soon as possible. You're quite lucky she has very few deliveries today"  
He gave the best description he could of the area so Celty would be able to find it easily on her motorcycle.

"Alright, she's on the way now. Just tell me what happened so I'll know what to expect" the doctor said calmly on the other line. Sometimes, it was hard to think the doctor had any emotions at all or was even a normal human being.

"Well, this ghoul tried to eat him" Kida said through what he now realized were tears streaming down his face. "And he had a bikaku and wrapped it around him."

"Your friend is human right?" Shinra asked.

"Y-yes he is" Kida looked down to Ryuugamine who's head was currently lying in his lap while the boy was unconscious with a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

"And what did the ghoul do to him exactly I need to know."

"Well" Kida tried to recollect what happened since he wasn't able to see a good majority of it. He shouldn't have been so weak and useless. "I don't know much of what happened but ah" he tried to think. "I think he smashed him into a wall and when I last saw him, he had his bikaku wrapped around him and was squeezing him really hard and I think something broke and theres blood coming from his mouth" Kida said all quickly and panicked.

"I guess that means possibility of organ damage or even failure" Shinra said, murmuring in the phone. "Is the body of the other ghoul still there?" he asked.

"What, oh yeah but I cut it up a little bad." Kida said, glancing over at the body was now, a bloody mess.

"How bad?"

"Well..." he looked and found that there was really only one cut that was still there. "From his shoulder up to his head it's sort of..split" he said a little hesitant. Why would Shinra care about the body?

"Tell Celty to bring that along as well with your friend."

"What why?"

He was distracted and unable to get an answer, however, when he could hear a motorcycle roaring in the distance, quickly getting faster to them.  
When he returned his attention to the cellphone in hand, he found that the other line had already hung up on him.

Celty appeared at the entrance of the alleyway only seconds later, atop her motorcycle and as always a helmet covering her head entirely.  
He had always assumed that Celty was just another ghoul who just always wore a mask since she was overly precocious. So precocious in fact that he had never heard her voice and she spoke only in the form of typing on a PDA.

"Um..Shinra said that you should take his body too" Kida mentioned as he tried to wipe away the tears streaming down his face. He felt like a helpless child. He helped her lift Ryuugamine's body from the ground onto her motorcycle. She only gave a nod before picking up the other body, not minding all of the blood. He saw as she took out her kagune from her back, using it as extra appendages to hold onto the corpse on her back, securing it enough so it wouldn't make a big mess everywhere. Somehow, she held onto Ryuugamine on her lap with the other extensions of her rinkaku.  
She quickly typed up something on her PDA and showed it to Kida.

[I'm sorry I don't have room for you too. Will you be alright?]

Kida gave a little nod. "Uh, yeah I'll be fine I'll just walk there" he said but his voice was hard to trust because of how shaky and unsure it was.

She nodded and he saw her yellow helmet bob up and down before she kicked her motorcycle up and sped down the street, leaving only a roar and wave of smoke in her wake.

Kida slowly made his way up the street in the same direction, in a bit of a daze and unsure of what to do now. He didn't know what would happen to his friend and all at once it came rushing upon him.  
Shinra wasn't a miracle worker and humans were incredibly fragile. He could feel his knees give out on him and smacking down onto the hard concrete of the sidewalk. Someone wanted to eat his best friend and for some reason, that possibility never occured to him until it almost happened. It wasn't fair in this world that there were people like him who had to eat and people like Ryuugamine who had to be eaten. There was no asking for why and no stopping it and he didn't know what to do next if Ryuugamine was okay. How could he still want to be friends with a monster who almost ate him. It didn't matter that it wasn't Kida who tried to eat him. It was all the same because they were all still monsters in their own right.

But then again humans were certainly monsters as well. There were the doves who ruthlessly hunted down ghouls with no other reason than the fact that they were ghouls. There were ghouls like the ghoul Kida had just gotten rid of that were vile and cared not for the lives of anyone and just lived to consume. But then there were ghouls like him and Anri that just wanted to go on with their lives and try their best to live among humans. Anri did her best and she was a sweet and kind girl. What was her crime to deserve to be hunted down like an animal. She had to eat just like every other creature there was. And Kida tried as best as he could to never kill but that was an impossibility without the help of Izaya Orihara but there were repercussions to choosing that route as well. There were greedy ghouls and kind ghouls and just like humans they suffered in their own way right.

All these thoughts ran through Kida's head so quickly that he was hardly able to register them all. Things were just too blurry and too much for him and he let out a strangled sob from his lips. He couldn't see Ryuugamine die. He just couldn't. But he knew he had to get out of there. He was covered in the blood of another ghoul and human and there could always be doves roaming around and everything would be for naught if he was caught right then and there and killed.  
But that risk didn't register in his head and he slowly got up from the ground and lightly dusted off his knees although it did little since he was already covered in dirt and blood and who knows what else. Slowly, he made his way down the streets, feeling like his entire body was made of concrete and his limbs just wouldn't move on their own.  
But still he trudged along until he got near the apartment where the doctor did his underground business. Kida was ready to head into the building until a figure stood in his way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. It is a Shizaya-centric chapter. And I apologize so much for the late update, I had midterms.  
> Don't try to line up the timelines between the high schoolers and Izaya and Shizuo. It doesn't line up and I am fully aware of it but we're gonna pretend that they do. I'm so so sorry for not lining up the timelines and there was little I could do about it so it wouldn't be too confusing with how I wrote everything.  
> But in case you haven't kept up with the tumblr tag for this fic, and I really don't expect anyone to honestly, I planned on working on the original draft after finishing up editing this chapter. But since I'm on winter break I'm going to do my best to keep updating while writing and everything. Please bare with me and thank you for reading.  
> Kudos and Comments are much appreciated.  
> This is also one of those chapters that was meant to have more but your writer here is a lazy piece of shit with editing..

"Well if it isn't Kida" said a familiar voice that sent chills up Kida's spine.  
Smart ghouls knew that voice. Ghouls that were doomed knew that voice. Ghouls who knew they had gotten themselves in a bad situation knew that voice.

 

"What do you want, Izaya" Kida asked with a scowl.

"Why do you make me out to be such a villain" the man said, stepping out into the light so Kida could see his blood stained face and if the man's clothes hadn't been all black, he expected there to be blood visible on his clothing as well. It didn't smell like human blood. "It's not like I've ever done anything to you. "

"You're a liar. What do you mean you haven't done anything to me?! Why are you here?! "

"So many questions Kida! I can't possibly answer them all" he said with his usual infuriating grin.

"Then why are you here"

Izaya gave a shrug. "I came here to check on a friend. Completely innocent right? I also came to pick up a few items from Shinra. Him and I are friends afterall."

"Do you even have any friends? Who'd want anything to do with you. He knew he was pushing it and Izaya was a highly dangerous ghoul but just the sight of the man made Kida angry.

"On the contrary, dear Kida. Everyone wants everything to do with me" Izaya said as he began to walk off down the street, his normal flick blade in hand.  
There was really no reason for him to even carry that around since human weapons did little against ghouls' bodies but he still held onto it anyway. No one really knew why. It helped in some ways to make him seem more human. Even though Kida knew he was a ghoul and the knife wouldn't do very much, it was still intimidating in the hands of someone like Izaya.

Kida wanted to find something to yell at Izaya, some form of words to express the frustration and hatred he felt towards the man but found that his voice failed him. He felt like such a small child again. That was the effect Izaya had on people. At least, people like Kida who already felt so small and so unsure already. Izaya was just a leech who fed on everyone else for his own gain, metaphorically and literally. He had never been caught actually hunting and when asked why, he would always use the excuse that he loved his precious humans too much.

 

But Izaya wasn't the reason Kida was there so he made his way through the apartment building until he got to the door of the back alley doctor. The door opened to reveal Celty standing there, of course with her helmet on her head. He secretly wondered what it was that was underneath her helmet, as did everyone. What kind of ghoul was she that she had to stay so hidden all the time? There was the possibility that the CCG was after her but even then the mask and lack of speech was a bit much.  
But that wasn’t the reason he was there.

[Come on in] she typed into the PDA and showed it to Kida.

He gave a small nervous nod and walked in as she stepped out of the way for him to get in. The apartment smelled heavily of antiseptic and chemicals and blood that belonged to both human and ghoul.

“Was Izaya here earlier?” Kida asked as he fell onto the couch in the living room with a little sigh. The couch was almost like an ethereal cloud with all of the stress and hunger weighing down on the boy.

Celty typed quickly on her device and sat down next to Kida on the couch.

[He was. Why, did something happen between you and him?]

“Hm? Ah no I just ran into him outside. So uh...How’s Ryuugamine?” Kida asked, finally asking what he was too scared to know.

What if it wasn’t good news. What if Celty was just trying to hide everything from him. He wasn’t able to read her face after all. What if Shinra wasn’t able to do anything. What if his best friend was dead.

[I don’t know, honestly. Shinra was a little concerned but he’s confident in what he’s doing]

She tried to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder but it did little to calm his nerves.  
They would just have to sit and wait.

* * *

 

Izaya didn’t know why he was still out on the streets of Ikebukuro now that it the earliest hours of the morning. The sun wasn’t out yet and the stars still reigned over the majority of the sky with a waning moon slowly approaching the horizon. There was no reason for him to be out there anymore, he told himself. All the work was done for the evening. There was no more information to be gained or sold. There was no more things to do and there was no reason for him to be in the area but still, he remained. He continued to aimlessly wander the streets as cars sped by one by one, not burdened by clutter or excess traffic. There weren’t many people out at that time of night and the only others wandering about were up to no good and Izaya could tell a couple of them were most definitely ghouls.

 

He had tried to walk home but somehow found his footsteps keeping him from leaving the streets of Ikebukuro. He found himself sitting around on the stone ledges in the park for hours, telling himself over and over that he would soon just get up and go home. But everytime he got up, he found that his legs led him right back to the park, starering in the direction of the hospital.

 

Honestly, Izaya knew exactly why he was still wandering around the city but he didn’t want to admit it to himself. He knew exactly which hospital Shizuo would be in if he wasn’t at Shinra’s and the informant already knew that wasn’t where the beast was. But he knew he was still too much a coward to go confront him or see the repercussions of another ghoul. He didn’t know why he was avoiding the beast or why he even cared in the first place but he just knew it was irritating him to no end.  
Finally, when it was about five in the morning and he was sure there were deep bags underneath his eyes and the sun was hardly able to be seen but its weak rays were starting to finally peek across the horizon, he gave in and headed towards the hospital to settle his curiosity. As he entered the hospital building a couple doctors and nurses walking around noticed his presence but didn’t question With the way Izaya walked, everyone assumed he was just supposed to be there or didn't notice him at all just with his presence. Plus, there weren’t many doctors or nurses around that early in the morning in the first place. He looked on one of the record books sitting out on one of the moveable kiosks and found the name Heiwajima recently scrawled on the bottom with a time of admission and everything else that was generic and gave Izaya no real information of how the blonde was doing.  
It didn't matter though, Izaya would find that out himself. The room number was all he needed.

The hallways were half lit and there was only the sound of machinery whirring along with small murmurs of unimportant conversations filling the hallway. Izaya's steps clicked against the linoleum tiles and he made no attempts to silence them. The door to Shizuo's room was slightly ajar and the sound of mechanical whirring was louder now and the sounds had never bothered Izaya until now.  
He approached the bed slowly, now making his footsteps much softer.  
Shizuo didn’t look like Shizuo. He didn’t have his normal blue shades on,and he wasn’t wearing a bartender’s uniform. His normally perfect, idol-like blonde locks were greasy looking and splayed everywhere and his skin was unbelievably pale. Shizuo Heiwajima did not belong in a hospital gown nor did he belong in a hospital with layers and layers of thick bandages on his shoulder. He wondered what the doctors did to fix that and whether or not the missing chunk of flesh would be noticeable on the man. Izaya also wondered how Tom had explained it to the doctors or if he did at all. It was Shizuo as a patient, and the general public didn’t even seem to question the brute’s actions anymore.  
But despite all of that, the image of Shizuo lying in a hospital bed made Izaya highly uncomfortable. Another part of the ghoul, that he would vehemently deny if ever questioned, was relieved that he saw how Shizuo was doing for himself. But that relief was small and miniscule compared to some other feeling Izaya wasn’t sure exactly what the name was and he didn’t want to. It was disgusting to feel such a thing for someone like this, someone who wasn’t even human nor ghoul but something disgustingly in between.

The sounds of monitors beeping and machines whirring and the sound of shallow breaths all made Izaya more anxious than he had been in a long time. Sure, sometimes he was anxious with certain clients that got a little close and could possibly turn him into the doves or ghouls that he knew he could possibly kill him if he slipped up in the wrong way, not that he would ever admit these things, but this anxiety was worse and he didn’t know how to get rid of it.

 

He took a step towards the hospital bed so he was standing right by it, looking straight down at the blonde.

“What a troublesome beast you are” he said in a voice too quiet to be audible. “Don’t you know that you aren’t allowed to be taken by anyone that isn’t me?”

He found himself leaning down towards the bed so that his face was only inches away from the Shizuo’s. He smelled like a mixture of disgusting chemicals and sweat but somewhere there was still the lingering scent of smoke and cigarettes and it was all too nauseating. Even fainter was the scent of the other ghoul that made Izaya want to retch.

“I may be a monster but you’re even more monstrous than I. No ordinary monster is allowed to eat you. That woman didn’t deserve that bit of you, I should have taken it back from her but you know I only eat humans, not a beast like you. So that means no one should eat you. No creature human or ghoul deserves you” he said and felt his lips move but hardly heard sound come. Even though the words were heard by no one, he needed those words to leave his lips and leave his mind forever but such thoughts wouldn’t leave.

There was no warning and no way Izaya could react when he saw Shizuo’s eyes slowly start to open. He had no idea what to do when those chestnut eyes stared directly at him.  
Everything froze and Izaya could hear his heartbeat echo in his ears. What should he do. What would Shizuo say. What was going on. Why did he have to come here. Why couldn’t he just go home and leave it be. Why couldn’t he just leave the brute alone today and let him get eaten by another ghoul and never deal with it again.  
His body moved without his consent, and everything happened in a blur. He felt his foot take a step back and before he knew it, he found himself running out of the doors of the hospital room. His legs wouldn’t stop and kept him going. None of the nurses or doctors stopped him or if they tried to, he didn’t hear them. There wasn’t anything that could stop him. He just kept going, and he was fast that was sure. He was a ghoul after all and his legs took him farther and farther until he found himself in the same vicinity of Shinra’s apartment. It was all the way across Ikebukuro and he found that he was out of breath although the distance shouldn’t have been that far for a ghoul like him.  
When was the last time he had eaten. It didn’t matter though. He didn’t want to see the insane doctor or his supposedly ghoul girlfriend.  
He didn’t want to see an emotional and crying Kida or confront his probably dead human friend. He didn’t need another body, Shinra had set him up for a good two weeks with the last set even with his other clients’ needs. Selling human flesh to weaker ghouls who refused to hunt was a pretty great operation that got Izaya plenty of favors and plenty of ghouls that relied on him under his disposal. Sure they were weak ghouls but a weak ghoul was still stronger than an average human. That was all he needed.There was no use having any more human interaction so Izaya called a cab in hopes that the driver would have no want of conversation at early morning.

* * *

 

 

Without realizing it, Kida had fallen asleep on the doctor’s couch, his drooping low and his breaths coming out slow and steady. He was exhausted and hadn’t even noticed it notice it.  
He found himself waking up in the late morning, with a blanket draped over him and little noise going on around the apartment.  
The sudden realization of why he was at the apartment in the first place hit him and he threw the blanket off his body and stood up far too quickly.

“Shinra!” he called aloud, not thinking that there could possibly be people sleeping at that hour of the day. No, he didn’t assume that the doctor was possibly up all night performing surgery on his best friend was sleeping in another room, tired out of his mind along with his supposedly ghoul girlfriend who was for once not wearing her helmet.  
But that was exactly what the doctor was doing. The sound was enough to wake him and he got up with a groan.

“Kida, would it not occur to you that some people could be sleeping because they were up all night” Shinra asked with a slightly annoyed tone as he walked out into the living room.

“OH uh” he slunk back a little “I’m sorry Shinra, I was just….I just” he felt awfully guilty now that he realized how troublesome he was being for the doctor.

“Its fine” he said with a small sigh but then a smile. “He’s asleep in the other room if you want to see him. Although I must warn you of something.”

“Yeah? What is it? Is he okay?”

“Well” Shinra looked away and began to tap against his chin. Shinra was a man who never looked too particularly upset about anything. He was an always seemingly gruntled man and nothing seemed to ever disgruntle him. It was terrifying in its own sort of way. “A lot of his organs were destroyed by the other ghoul and the only thing I could do was replace them with the ghoul’s organs”

“What? How is that even possible?” KIda couldn't completely comprehend what he was hearing.

 

“Well the organs are pretty similar to human organs but they need more RC cells and so I gave him the kakuhou of the other ghoul so yeah. Ryuugamine is now half ghoul. He’s got a bikaku just like that ghoul” Shinra said and Kida could swear he saw traces of a smile on the doctor’s face.

“What…” 

His friend wasn’t supposed to be a monster like him. He felt guilty though, that he thought to himself that it might be easier to be friends this way. But it occurred to him that his friend would now probably despise him for turning him into part monster. He’d have to eat people now, how would he feel about that. What would he do. He thought about running away and he thought about just leaving and never seeing Ryuugamine again. It would be easier that way. He would never have to face that again but that was much too cowardly for even him. He’d have to face this.

 

“You should go see him.”

 

Kida gave a small nod.

 

The other room was a back room used for patients that required surgery and it wasn’t filled with the best of equipment but the the things there were quite adequate for the back alley doctor.

How would he face his friend now who looked sickly and broken on a hospital bed and was unconscious and covered in bandages all because of him. He wanted to run off and leave but he couldn’t and braced himself so he wouldn’t leave. He made himself take steps towards the hospital bed, to grasp the railing of the bed with his hands until they were white but he couldn’t leave. THere was no way he could leave and run away from this.

“I’m so sorry Ryuugamine. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you come to Tokyo. I didn’t want things to happen like this. Please don’t be mad at me”

He felt tears stinging at the corners of his eyes.

“Please don’t be mad at me. I promise I’ll fix all of this. I promise I’ll fix this and things will be okay, Mikado, please just don’t be mad at me. I know you should be. I know you have every right to be but please.”

Tears were now flowing freely from his eyes and there was no way to stop them but he still wiped them away so they wouldn’t fall on Ryuugamine’s face.

"I don't know what I would do if you decided not to be my friend anymore." The words coming out of his mouth were unbelievably selfish but that couldn't be helped. Mikado meant so much to him and he couldn't stand it if he was taken away from him, even if it was his own fault. That's what he thought. It was all his fault for bringing Mikado to Tokyo in the first place to get rid of his own loneliness. Sure there was Anri but it wasn't the same. If he hadn't been so selfish then maybe Mikado wouldn't be in this mess.

Selfishly, he hoped that Mikado would wake up and tell him that everything would be okay. But this was the real way and there was no way Mikado could wake up so soon after such an intensive surgery.

He heard footsteps approach from behind but didn't turn around to face whoever it was.

"You know, if you don't want your friend to have to hunt, there is one person you can turn to" said the doctor standing there.

"What? No!" That was out of the question. Ghouls that couldn't hunt and were too weak to hunt were preyed on by the stronger and Kida didn't want that to be Ryuugamine. But he also knew how his friend would feel about killing and eating his own kind. The boy was so kind and meek, how could he ever.

"But it's an option. Izaya isn't that bad."

"Izaya is scum. He's a monster among monsters and you know that. He's manipulative and will throw anyone in the line of fire if it means he gets away scot free. He's a coward. He cares about nothing. No one but himself. What if he gets Mikado killed!"

Shinra put up his hands in defeat with the mockery of a frightened smile on his face. "It was just a suggestion! You know I have to work with him too. But him and that friend of his get me a lot of help you know."

"What friend, Izaya doesn't have friends" Kida turned to face the doctor directly with his tear stained face and reddish eyes.

"I guess she's an acquaintance but you might meet her eventually if she doesn't die first the way she is. But even if you do" he trailed off and tried to think of it for a moment before waving it off. "Regardless. You should go home and clean up. Anri is probably worried so theres that, you don't want her out looking for you. I heard she's a little under the weather right?"

How did Shinra even know these things. How did SHinra know everything yet led on he knew nothing at the same time. Just how close were he and Izaya?

"Yeah I was just...trying to get us food when this all happened."

"Hm..." Shinra thought for a second. "I have a couple extra packages in the basement that I didn't give to Izaya for Celty. I don't think she would mind sharing a little bit"

"What, but that's Celty's food" But oh how Kida wanted to accept the hand out. It would make things easier if just for a little bit. Anri was so dedicated to being a normal student, so intent on being normal and human and being able to go to school that she still had her lunch every single day. It was just a plain sandwich but still. It was an awful thing for her body but she refused to stop it.

"I'm sure she won't mind. Here, I'll send you home with two packages. Go home and get cleaned up. I'll be sure to text you if anything happens with Mikado so just get yourself home already" Shinra said, trying to shoo the boy out so he would be able to deal with other patients that day. But he didn't say in in a mean way. Shinra still cared despite his always nonchalant and carefree seeming attitude. Or, at least Kida had to assume the doctor cared. The man was human, wasn’t he.  
"Celty!" He called out down the hall and proceeded to leave the room. "I'm gonna send Kida home with one of your packages okay? Are you busy?" There was a pause to which Kida assumed Shinra was reading the female ghoul's PDA screen.

"Oh alright, would you mind taking him home then?"

And with that Kida was sent home, begrudgingly, with enough food to keep and Anri alright for a couple weeks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have absolutely no excuses as to why it took me over a year to update LOL. I've just been busy since college has started for me now. I did very little editing for this chapter so it's going to be very wordy. So sorry. I might go back and revise it.   
> Unfortunately, I have yet to see either season two of Tokyo Ghoul or Durarara so what you're getting here is just my original manuscript for this fic. I'll try to continue to update what I have and give you what I have and if I have time to watch the second season of these animes I'll add on to this fic. Thank you for those who have stuck by it this long!   
> Once again, if you ever have questions you can always message me on tumblr, the tag for this fic is 'haematic fic'

Izaya didn't leave Shinjuku for days and hardly left his office or apartment. He spent hours upon hours in each building, working hours on end or just sleeping away the world. 

 

His secretary Namie was dismissed for the week because he really really didn’t want to deal with that annoying ghoul of a woman. She was so reckless it was a wonder the CCG hadn't caught on yet and he swore that if someone were to slip up and give away his identity, it would be her. He didn’t even know why he kept around other than the fact that it was highly amusing just to annoy her and make fun of her incestuous love for her brother. But, without her there things were quieter and it was better that way for Izaya and him stewing in his self pity. 

 

When he was at his office, he immersed himself in work. He even took on small menial jobs that really didn't service him all that much but still he took them on because they passed the time. He worked for three days without stop, keeping himself busy on his laptop and phone. He filed files that really didn't need to be that organized but still meticulously did so so that any piece of information was in its own folder and file and tagged in every single way. Really it was all a huge waste of time but he had to keep busy.

 

He also kept busy calling clients who were surprised that Izaya Orihara himself came to them looking for work instead of just waiting around for them to call him. It would blemish his reputation a little but not by much. He only contacted the big bosses that relied heavily on him already. There were powerful ghouls and powerful humans. Powerful humans like Shiki who had been working with Izaya for years took the opportunity as it was and didn't question any more of it.   
He got an easy job done for the yakuza, gained a little more of their trust. There was at least some small gain to all of this. At the end of the three days of tireless working, he found himself falling asleep at his office desk which gave little to no comfort to his tired body. 

 

So he hailed another cab, dozed off on the ride there, and slunk away into his lush apartment.  
It was far too empty, he thought, when he stepped into its confines but that didn't matter. After working for seventy two hours straight, Izaya needed all the sleep and refuge from the world he could get and any way to keep his mind busy or beautifully oblivious to everything else.   
He collapsed onto his plush king sized bed in his bedroom, sinking underneath the covers. Was he hungry? Probably. But he didn't want to bother with hunting or even going to the storage fridge for anything. He was smart enough to keep a good supply on hand but at the moment, that meant getting up and that was not something Izaya wanted to currently deal with. 

 

He just wanted to sink into oblivion within the covers of his blanket but the universe had different plans. 

 

His adored fur jacket was tossed aside to one corner of the bed since he was far too lazy to hang it up anywhere proper when he flopped down onto the mattress and sheets.   
As soon as his eyes closed and sleep was within his grasp, one of the many phones he kept in his jacket began to vibrate.   
It probably wasn't important. But then it kept vibrating and vibrating and he just had to pick it up.

 

10 new messages from Shinra.

 

What did that mad doctor even want at this hour and what did he want with Izaya. they had already met up a couple days prior, what now. Still he opened up the message. 

I know you probably don't care, but Shizuo's woken up from the hospital  
I went to go visit him and he asked where you were  
Strange isn't it?  
He's going to be in physical rehab for a bit  
You shouldn't bother him for a while  
But I doubt you'll care about that  
Where have you been?  
Not that I care or anyone else does.  
Shizuo asked about you again  
He won't tell us why  
Izaya, what did you do?

Damn. Damn damn damn. Did Shizuo remember him from the hospital? He probably did, how could he not, Izaya was there. He was literally there standing over the protozoan’s bedside whispering nonsense at his unconscious body. But he had hoped that the flood of narcotics and anesthetics flowing through the brute's blood stream was enough to keep him from remembering that details. Did he even remember the incident at all?   
Of course he would have. 

 

It didn't matter to Izaya and it wasn't something he was currently willing to deal with. He grabbed the phone and shut it closed and chucked it at the wall, hearing it crack and thud against the ground. But it wasn't broken because even then it still continued to vibrate with every incoming text message. It was infuriating and Izaya was having none of it.  
Huffily, he grabbed the covers of the bed and pulled them over his head like a child. Even with his ears and eyes covered it was impossible to ignore the phone or the thoughts racing through his head.   
What if more ghouls tried to eat him.   
Why not just let them. 

 

He gave an exasperated groan.

 

Sleeping pills weren't an option for ghouls. There were chemical altering alternatives for ghouls but there was only one ghoul he could contact for that and he was in no mood to deal with her. So he got up from his bed and quite swiftly put an end to the life of the vibrating nuisance that was the cellphone by repeatedly stomping on it. Over and over his foot stomped down on the piece of metal until it was nothing but shards and discarded pieces of trash on his bedroom floor.   
There.

Finally he'd be able to sleep and sleep he did although fitfully so.  
The face of a certain blonde beast kept appearing behind his eyelids every time he closed them and Izaya became a testament that indeed, ghouls have nightmares of their own.

 

Shinra was just a normal man trying to live a normal life, he liked to believe. He just wanted to have a successful back alley doctor’s office that was a no nonsense sort of practice. Just the normal gunshot victims and gang fight wounds along with the occasional interesting ghoul case. He just wanted a peaceful and happy life with his girlfriend that was rumoured to be a ghoul, rumours that he never denied or proved to be true. The secret was more fun as it was. 

Obviously she was a ghoul since many people had seen her kagune and the CCG were obviously after his darling Celty but there were still mysteries surrounding her that certainly kept things interesting. No one had ever seen her face except for him and with or without her head shown, she was still beautiful.

 

But no. Shinra didn’t get any of these things and he blamed it on the acquaintances he kept. An information broker who was a ghoul and preyed on the weak was obviously someone who came with a whole category of trouble on his own. Plus it didn’t help that Izaya Orihara was just also generally an asshole and probably in love with Shizuo. It didn’t take a genius like Shinra to figure that one out. The signs were as clear as day even if it was completely oblivious to both parties.   
Being friends with the other side of that messed up relationship was also not helpful. Shizuo Heiwajima was also a man who was just trying to be normal but somehow ran into everything wrong. And now the poor man was in the hospital through no fault of his own. Well, that’s what Shinra kept saying. Shizuo probably had a small part in it somehow or another, that man was never completely innocent. He wondered, still, why it was the informant that he asked for first since the two of them were still pretending to hate each other. Everyone in Tokyo could see the sexual tension from miles away. 

 

Those two were a problem on their own, and then there were the high schoolers.  
Kida came every single day to check on his friend. Actually, he came twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. He assumed the boy was still going to school but maybe not. He didn’t really talk when he came by, just sort of walked in through the front door with little greeting and went straight to the back room and sat there with his friend for about two hours before being ushered out by Celty or Shinra himself. 

 

Shinra needed the back room eventually. Lucky for him, the boy woke on the third day.   
“Mikado ?” he heard the blonde boy say loudly from the back room one afternoon. “Mikado are you okay?”  
So of course Shinra walked back there since he was a doctor after all.   
The boy on the hospital bed was groggy and looked highly confused and looked up at his friend for some sign of comfort. 

 

“Kida? What happened” he asked in a hoarse and hardly audible voice. 

 

“Before all that” Shinra interrupted and took a step towards the hospital bed and placed his hands into his lab coat pockets. “How are you feeling?” 

 

“Hm? Oh um….I’m just tired. Some things are a little sore but I’m not sure why...What happened to me?” Honestly he could remember a good deal of what happened. But it was all so unreal he had to make sure it wasn’t a dream. But still he wasn’t panicking and he wasn’t particularly upset. 

 

“You were attacked by a ghoul” Shinra started before Kida could say anything, hoping that his intervention would keep things from getting too out of control. “Lucky for you Kida was there to save you but unfortunately, he did quite a deal of damage to you before that. He went to the head of the bed where there was a clipboard. It wasn’t an official hospital like form but it still had all the listings of Mikado ’s condition and all the drugs he was currently being given.   
“A few of your organs were permanently damaged, a couple ribs punctured some not so fun places such as your lungs and heart so I had to act quickly and replace them with the ghoul’s”  
Shinra looked the boy straight in the eye so as to be able to tell everything to him straight.

 

“A good number of your organs are now ghoul organs and since they function a little differently and need different nutrients from er...different things, I gave you the ghoul’s kouhaku too. So now well, you have the ability to use a kagune just like any other ghoul. Are you getting all this Mikado ? I know it’s all a lot for you to take in after just waking up but”

 

“Yeah I get it” Mikado said with a small nod. He tried to edge himself up on his elbows so he could sit up but ended up wincing and crying out in pain. 

 

“Hold up there” Shinra said and rushed to his side, helping the boy get propped up by the pillow and Kida tried to help but was mostly just shooed away by the doctor. “You gotta be careful, you’re still not all okay yet.”

 

“S-sorry.”

 

“No need to be” Shinra said and pulled away as soon as he was sure that Mikado was fine in the position he was. “But in short, you have the same diet as a ghoul now and are now half ghoul”

 

“W-what” Mikado asked incredulously and looked at Shinra then over at Kida. 

 

“I’m so sorry Mikado ” Kida said, leaning forward and getting a little close to the other boy’s face. “I really am so sorry that this all happened to you because of me. And there’s no way I could ever make it up to you like this. But I’ll be here for you as much as I can. O-or not if you decided that this was the last straw and you never want to be friends with me again. But I just….if you can forgive me”

 

“I forgive you” he said without a moment of hesitation. 

 

Kida wasn’t sure of how to respond to that and just stood there awe struck for a moment. 

 

“I’ll leave you two alone for a little bit” Shinra said and quietly exited the room. 

 

The two boys waited until the doctor was out of the room and the door shut behind him. When they were sure he was gone they began to talk. 

 

“Are you really...really forgiving me this easy?” Kida asked, looking at his best friend in the face.   
Mikado nodded firmly and gave a small smile to his best friend. 

 

“It wasn’t your fault. I’m not dead right? And we can get through this. Although...I haven’t the faintest idea of what it even means to be a ghoul or what they...eat but I have a good idea.”

 

“You don’t mind that I’m this monstrous thing that could eat you?” Kida asked quietly. 

 

The boy shook his head. 

 

Honestly he hated to admit the small amount of excitement starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach. This was the start wasn’t it. This was the start of an exciting life, even if it meant the start of a life as part monster but that's the sacrifice some protagonists had to make, right? 

 

“It’ll be okay, Kida. You’ll help me out right?”

 

Kida nodded eagerly. “Are you in any pain at all? Anything I can do to help you? I’ll get Shinra back in here okay?”

 

“Ah okay…”

 

“Shinra!” the blonde boy called out as he ran out of the room in search for the doctor. He found him in the counter of his own kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand. “Is Celty not here?”

 

“Hm? No, Celty has a job and then I believe she’s visiting a friend. Do you and Mikado need anything?”

 

“Uh yes but um, I was just wondering if you could do anything to help Mikado with the pain that he’s in. He says it’s only a little bit but I bet it’s a lot more than he’s letting on.”

 

Shinra set down his coffee mug and mentally tried to check his inventory of medicines. Since Mikado was now part ghoul and had the metabolism of one so some drugs didn’t work in the same way. Plus, he was sure that soon he would also begin to show other signs of being a ghoul that just came as a side effect, Shinra assumed. He wasn’t exactly an expert on half ghouls although he had minimal experience with them. There was one pain killer option but he was sure he was running low on it since his supplier hadn’t been contacted in a while. 

 

“I’ll see what I can do.” 

 

Things were going to be okay with those two boys. He knew they would be okay. How much tragedy could possibly happen to one group of people. 

Izaya couldn’t exactly say how many days he had spent in bed bed if he were to guess he’d probably say at least two. At least. But eventually the growing pain of hunger in his stomach made him finally get out of bed. Ghoulish hunger was so terrifying he had seen it once and never wanted to have to deal with it again. He had always made sure to keep himself fed enough that he wouldn’t have to experience that.   
He got up from his messy bed with a groan and looked over at the broken and damaged phone on the ground that was now unusable. Those contacts weren’t too important on that number, plus there were probably duplicates on other cell phones. It wasn’t his most important one. 

 

He went into his kitchen and went into the bottom vegetable crisper drawer. He didn’t have any need for real food but kept some in the fridge anyway, just in case. There were also various snacks thrown around his kitchen cabinets just to not raise any suspicions but it wasn’t like many people came to his apartment. He was a pretty private person but then again the occasional ghoul would come over or his sisters. 

 

Speaking of sisters, he probably had to check on his younger sisters soon to make sure they had an adequate supply. He wasn’t that bad of an older brother. He still provided for them, sort of. They still insisted on going to school even though they weren’t the most careful of girls. Their parents had originally provided for them and hunted for them but Izaya didn’t want to really be reminded of what happened to their parents. It wasn’t as if he was so dramatically haunted by it, it just wasn’t pleasant to think about the normal end of a ghoul. The CCG were ruthless after all and he was sure that the doves were already slowly circling his tail. But no matter. He’d avoid them.   
There were four small packages in the vegetable crisper drawer and he picked up one. It was wrapped in brown paper and underneath that, the meat itself was wrapped in layers and layers of plastic to keep any blood from spilling out and a small amount of twine to keep all the paper together. 

 

Today wasn’t one of the days Izaya Orihara was going to deal with a plate and having to wash a plate after eating. He was much too tired and much too frustrated with everything. He just wanted to eat enough to not die and then return to his bed, perhaps after a shower. Or perhaps not. It all depended on how he felt.   
He stood there at the counter and carefully peeled the meet from all its wrappings. At the sight and smell of human meat his eyes decided to turn themselves black and red and he allowed it since he was in the safe confines of his own home. 

 

Now that he was conscious, as much as he hated it, the thoughts of Shizuo Heiwajima returned. It was disgusting but he couldn’t help it. So as he was eating and his hands were still covered in blood, he carelessly went into his bedroom to retrieve his own personal laptop. He brought it out into the kitchen and set it out on the counter next to his slab of human meat. He didn’t need that much but he didn’t want to leave a partially eaten package out. 

 

The forums were already starting to blow up about the disappearance of Shizuo. 

 

There were rumours everywhere about what happened to the man and a couple were starting to get close to the truth. There were government conspiracies as always along with the few alien theories and other things. They were mostly very ridiculous. But there were a few about ghouls that were pretty close. There was even a couple posts that Shizuo Heiwajima was actually a ghoul and had finally been taken down by the CCG. That theory was highly flawed. That man really didn’t have what it takes to be a ghoul in the first place. He would have died immediately. Plus there was no way Kasuka could be a ghoul either with how famous he was. 

 

He continued to scroll through the internet forums as he chewed slowly at the meat which should have tasted like the best thing in the world but he found no appeal in it.   
His laptop then beeped at the sound of someone messaging him. 

 

Izumi: hav u heard what theyre saying

Why was she bothering him? She never contacted anyone. People contacted her for business. She was as despicable a ghoul as Izaya. People used her and that was the end of it. 

Kanra: Heard what who’s saying?   
Kanra: If you’re just spewing inebriated nonsense I’m not in the mood to hear it. 

He finished up the package and crumpled up the paper to dispose of in the garbage disposal. Didn’t want to leave any evidence behind after all. 

Izumi: im never sober. but shizuo. on the radar of every ghoul. they all want to eat him.   
Izumi: entire ward is talking about it  
Izumi: Other ones too  
Izumi: whoever gets to him first wins

Izaya didn’t know whether or not to trust this information. Sure, her information had been reliable before but why would she come with it without any sort of payment returned. 

Kanra: And you’re telling me this, why?

Izumi: bored. 

Bored his ass. She wanted something out of this but really, it couldn’t hurt to find out. He wanted to find out for himself. Why would all the ghouls want to eat a monster, a brute, a protozoan like Shizuo Heiwajima? But the answer was obvious. What could be more fun than eating a human that was almost as strong as a ghoul. It would be a fun fight for some ghouls. The ghouls that liked to hunt, that liked to torture, the privileged ones that loved to torment humans would love a challenge like Shizuo. But Izaya wasn’t going to have that. 

Kanra: I want more info. Want to be my eyes? 

Izumi: pay?

Kanra: Fine.   
Kanra: Watch the dangerous wards for me

Izumi: hey!! hey ! trying to get rid of me?

Kanra: You can handle it if you’re sober

Kanra: PAY.

Kanra: Fine. I’ll make it worth your while. 12 hours. 

Izumi: k

Izaya now felt his tiredness leave his body. He wanted to act, now. So he slammed his laptop closed and headed for his bathroom, not even bothering to care where his clothing fell as he stripped them all off and let them drop to the ground wherever they lie. 

After a quick shower and brushing of his teeth so his breath didn’t smell like flesh and blood, he dressed himself in his usual attire, packing his mask of course and army of phones. He hailed a taxi to Ikebukuro. He had to meet the beast himself. Even if the rumours weren’t true he decided. 

No other monster was to touch his beast. His protozoan. 

 

No one else was allowed to wipe that disgusting thing between human and ghoul from the planet but him. No one was allowed to take away Izaya Orihara’s toys or even try and that lady ghoul was a perfect example of what would happen if anyone did. He didn’t know where this possessiveness came from or how it even came to be but he decided not to fight it for the time being. It had yet to bring any real consequences. Yet.   
He took out one of his other phones from his jacket pocket and checked for any messages. There were a few from Shinra but he decided to completely ignore those. THey probably weren’t important. 

 

Eventually he got to Ikebukuro and to the hospital where Shizuo was still in and he wondered how he would make his entrance and how Shizuo would react to seeing him there. From what Shinra had told him, he probably was in no condition to try and throw a vending machine or street sign at Izaya so maybe visiting him wouldn't be too bad an idea. 

"Well well, don't tell me there's a monster meeting here, ne" he said as he walked in.   
Shizuo was there sitting up on the hospital bed, and the thick pads and layers of bandages were clearly visible on his shoulder. Disgusting.

 

"Iz-a-ya" Shizuo said, the name echoing low in his force and the anger clear in his tone but Celty stood in between the two men, trying to stop any conflict from occurring but Izaya was sure there was little she could very well do. There was probably very little Shizuo could do. 

 

"Didn't you ask for me, Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked as he slowly stepped into the room and Shizuo made no movements towards the other. He just watched the raven haired man slowly approach him with a great frown upon his face. He hadn't specifically asked for Izaya to come, only asked where he was. 

 

"Did you do this?" Shizuo asked. 

 

What. It had never occurred to Izaya that Shizuo could even think of such a thing. Did he really think Izaya was that sinister of a person as to command a ghoul to go and eat him. The thought of him disgusted him to the pit of his stomach. How could he ever. But then again Izaya was seen as a despicable person and ghoul to some and his overall appearance of 'I don't give a damn about anyone but myself' sort of helped that thought. But still. It was a horrible thought that Izaya would do such a thing. Sending in thugs and delivery trucks were one thing. Sending in a ghoul was another. 

 

"No. How could Shizu-chan ever accuse me of something like that" Izaya said, putting a hand over his chest dramatically as if he had been gravely wounded there. 

 

"Because you're a dirty flea who would" Shizuo said. "You do dealings with ghouls too right"  
If Shizuo wasn't hopped up on so many pain medications he would have been a lot angrier but with all the medications and sedatives he couldn't feel all the adrenaline or hardly any of his anger. Everything was just very cloudy and muted.

 

"Well, as flattered as I am that Shizu-chan thinks I'm so intent on getting rid of him easily that I would go so far as hire an even more monstrous monster to do it" he swore he saw Celty's head whip around to face him so fast her helmet almost flew off "but I did not."  
"So I just happened to be sent to a bad side of town and just happened to be sent to a client who was actually a ghoul and all these things were just purely coincidental"  
Shizu-chan was an idiot as ever. 

 

"Yes. But I do notice dear Shizu-chan that you are not, in fact, completely devoured and eaten. How come? Did the ghoul find you so repulsive that it couldn't even finish you off?"

 

"Did you just come to bother me flea?" 

 

"I came because Shizu-chan asked for me, didn't he" Izaya said and approached the hospital bed and stood at the foot of it. Celty stood by SHizuo's side, highly distrustful of the informant. She had every right to be, after all. 

 

Celty looked over at Shizuo and the man only looked away. She took out her PDA and typed something on in quickly and held it up to Izaya's face. 

 

[Why are you so willing to come, then? What are you planning?]

 

The informant merely shrugged and laughed a little.  
"I'm not planning anything, dear Rider. I just came to visit a good friend in the hospital since he asked for my presence."

 

"I'm not friends with you, flea. I still hate you."

 

"And I you, protozoan. But what do you want me here for? You can't be lonely with Celty here, or did you just miss my face that much you had to see it again?"

 

"I should never have but since you're already here" Shizuo gave a sigh. He hated hospitals and he just wanted to get out. He hated his friends fussing over him and he hated that he had to ask a favour of the damned flea in the first place. 

 

"If you weren't the person responsible, who was?"

 

"Shizu-chan thinks I know this? I'm flattered"

 

"You're an information broker right? What use are you if you have no information?"

 

"Am I really no good for anything else, Shizu-chan? Nothing else?" Iaya teased relentlessly, knowing that Shizuo couldn't do anything to fight back Not physically at least and the brute wasn't really known for his wit in words.

 

"Do you or do you not?" he asked, angrier now. 

 

"You know that information is my business right? And for a business to run it needs to be paid."  
Shizuo scowled and looked away. 

 

"Not all of us make money like you do, flea" 

 

"Well then....I suppose there is some way for you to pay me for my information. And it won't be the same sort of payment I accepted in high school."  
Shizuo's face flushed and Celty snapped her head around again to look at Shizuo. The poor girl was just surprised and unsure. 

 

[Highschool?]

Ah why did Izaya say that, that was so stupid of him. It was such a long time ago he didn't understand why he had to bring it up now. The days of Raira were no more so there was no reason for him to bring it up any longer and both men had promised never to speak of those times ever again. 

 

"Oi, flea.." Shizuo said in a warning tone, ignoring Celty's questioning glowing PDA message. 

 

"Oh nothing nothing, forget I said that" Izaya said with his hands up in mock defeat. "But if you want the information you still have to pay me."

 

"Oi, I already said-"

 

"Not with money Shizu-chan. No. I have something more valuable in mind."

 

Izaya began to pace around the room. What was he doing. Why was he doing this. His brain knew it was a bad idea, heck Izaya was a genius and knew for sure this was one of the worst ideas he had ever come up with but he couldn't stop himself from continuing on. 

 

"Ms Transporter, would you mind leaving us for a little bit? It's just I like to conduct business in private" Izaya said. His legs had taken him to the side of the room where there was a window facing the courtyard of the hospital. It was one of those days where the clouds blanketed the sky and though no rain fell. it was still dreary and damp outside. There was light but hardly enough to be satisfying and there were clouds but no rain fell from them to satisfy their departure. It was just dreary dull and stuck in the middle. 

 

Celty shook her head vehemently but Shizuo spoke up. 

 

"I'll be okay Celty. If the flea tries anything I can handle him" Shizuo reassured her. "I'm not completely useless."

 

She hesitated but Shizuo seemed so sure of himself she just gave a little nod and typed up another message. 

 

[I'll be here tomorrow when you get discharged]

 

"You don't have to" 

 

[It's fine, really]

 

He just sort of nodded and things were silently agreed between the two since Celty had few words to give and Shizuo felt comfortable with just her presence there. But she did leave, quietly exiting the room and giving what could be considered a glare, even though she had no visible face, to Izaya,

 

"I'm surprised you haven't completely healed up with that freakish body of yours" Izaya said as soon as she left. 

 

"Well these doctors aren't Shinra and don't believe that I'm already fine. They keep wanting to keep me around for observation or some shit."

 

Shizuo was very visibly not okay. There were still several monitors strapped to him everywhere and his skin was still an off color where he looked ashen and sickly. There were still thick layers of bandages on his shoulder, he could tell, and the amount of pain medication they were still pumping through Shizuo was a clear indication that something was wrong. The brute just hadn't figured it out yet. The pain medications and other sedatives probably played a good part in that. 

 

“Well when you do get out, you obviously can’t go back to work immediately” Izaya said. 

 

“I’m not fragile, I’m fine to go back.”

 

‘Shizu-chan, don’t tell me you’re that much of an idiot but I should have realized as much from a protozoan as you.”

 

“What are you talking about, flea?”

 

“You’re obviously in no shape to do much of anything, can’t you see. There’s still a large gap in your shoulder and it didn’t heal in just a week, Shizu-chan. I wonder why.”

 

“Tch. It’ll heal fine and quick enough.” 

 

“But enough about that, Shizu-chan. About my offer.”

 

Izaya slowly approached the bed and sat at the end of it. Shizuo visibly pulled away and scooted as far as he could from Izaya as if he was someone infectious. 

 

“What do you want?”

 

“Simple Shizu-chan. I’m the only one who is allowed to end your miserable existence” Izaya swore he could hear a tch coming from Shizuo but he was already on his way with his lengthy explanation so he didn’t want to pause just to acknowledge the other. “No other being, not even a ghoul is allowed to do that. But seeing as you’re not even able to protect yourself from that, then I need to take some measures to make sure that no one else tries to take you from me.”

 

“You make it sound like I belong to you or something”

 

“Hush Shizu-chan I’m in the middle of my speech. But seeing as you can’t even protect yourself I’m going to make sure that nothing else gets to you other than me.”

 

“I don’t belong to you and I’m not a pet you can just play with. “ Shizuo said, clearly angry now and threw the blanket off of him and stood up from the hospital bed. He looked pretty ridiculous standing there in a hospital gown, staring Izaya down as menacingly as he could. He tried to throw a punch but his arm was obviously in no condition to do so with the lack of shoulder flesh he was suffering from. 

 

“Augh!” 

 

He dropped to the ground, feeling the soreness and the pain in his shoulder and he could feel some of the skin grafted there breaking a little. He was supposed to not use that arm for a while, he was warned, but he was sure it was like every other warning given to him before and didn’t really have to be heeded. 

 

“See what I mean” Izaya said and lowered himself to the floor so he was eye level with Shizuo. 

“You’re just the biggest target for everyone and anything right now. Why not accept my help and   
I’ll help you find out the ghoul that did this to you and why. That’s what you want right? It’s a win win for you.” 

 

“Why would you want to help me flea” he asked through gritted teeth. “I’m not that stupid, what are you planning?” 

 

Izaya put up his hands in defeat “I’m not planning anything dearest Shizu-chan, I’m just protecting my investments.”

 

“Don’t talk about me like that, you disgusting flea.”

 

Izaya stood up and extended a hand out to help the injured beast up from the ground. He looked pitiful and Izaya didn’t want any other predators out in the world to see him that way. This was his prey. 

 

Shizuo looked up at him with both pain and anger clear in his eyes. “Why are you doing this, flea, what are you even getting out of this.” He was reluctant but he still took Izaya’s hand. Izaya still helped him up from the ground and the two of them simply stared at each other for a moment. 

 

Were the days of high school really that far away? The two men were just in their twenties after all. High school was only a few years ago and though what they had wasn’t anywhere near a real relationship or even had any real attached feelings, it was close enough that it could have become something more had either men just let it go on a little more. Just a little more. 

 

“I promise I’m not planning anything Shizu-chan. I just don’t like people taking things from me.”

 

“I’m not yours in the first place.”

 

“And if someone were to try to kill me, Shizu-chan?”

 

“Tch” Shizuo sat back down on the bed and held his shoulder, trying to feel if anything was wrong underneath the bandages although it was sort of impossible to. “I’d probably say you did something to deserve it being who you are and with all the sketchy shit that you do.”

 

“Well then Shizu-chan it's a good thing we’re nothing alike.” 

 

“No we’re not. But how would you protect me, flea? You’re nothing but sticks yourself.”

 

“Well” Izaya said and began pacing around the room again. He put his hands in his pocket and felt his cell phone vibrate. It could wait until later so he muted it. “Believe or not I’m actually a little sturdier than you think. Getting hit by flying vending machines throughout my youth has sort of toughened me up” as well as being a ghoul that eats people and having a protruding organ out of my back that can impale someone. “So currently, in your condition, I’m probably a bit stronger than you are. Also, I have a pretty secure apartment. It’s probably a lot bigger than yours, extra bedrooms and all that stuff. Pretty extravagant if I do say so myself.”

 

“What are you getting at flea” although Shizuo was pretty sure what Izaya was trying to get at. 

 

“Come stay with me for a little bit and I can promise no ghoul will try and eat you as long as you stay with me.”

 

“You’re insane. Why would I want to come stay with you? You’d kill me in a heartbeat. And what makes you stronger than a ghoul anyway? You probably couldn’t stand up against one either.”

 

Oh how wrong the poor protozoan was. 

 

“You forget that I obviously do dealings with ghouls as well. I know how to handle a ghoul. They’re easy enough to deal with” when I also am one and could kill one in a heartbeat.

 

“I don’t understand why. You should just turn them all into the CCG and get it over with. That's what most people do, right?”

 

That hurt. It sent a strike right through Izaya’s non existent heart but that didn’t matter, really. It didn’t. Shizuo would never have to know, right. 

 

“Well, Shizu-chan. I don’t turn in the criminals I do dealings with either so I don’t see why it would be fair. Clients are clients after all. Whatever they do with the information I give them is no business of mine, really.”

 

“Don’t you make everyone’s business your business? But I sort of see what you mean in that awful twisted way of yours.” He really must have been off or something if Shizuo was starting to agree with Izaya’s statements. 

 

“So, what do you say Shizu-chan?”

 

Shizuo thought about it for a moment. He wouldn’t be able to work for a while, honestly. But he didn’t want to just abandon everyone for a while. Plus, the ghoul was probably just one isolated incident. It wasn’t like there would be any more coming after him unless Izaya was lying at it really was him behind all of those things. Izaya usually didn’t do anything without a motive. What was his here. He had a small idea but it was a ridiculous one. High school was over and those events were to never be mentioned again. So it wasn’t that, and Shizuo continued to push such thoughts from his mind. 

 

“Why would I need your protection, it's not like other ghouls are going to come after me.” 

 

“Are you willing to bet your life on that, Shizu-chan? I can’t tell you anything else yet, since you haven’t agreed in paying me yet.”

 

“You’re getting really fucking annoying flea.”

 

“What are you going to do, try and fight me, Shizu-chan?”

 

“I’m sure I can kick your ass without this arm.”

 

“Really?” Izaya’s flick blade was out in an instant, held up towards Shizuo, who was not at all willing to back down from a fight but Izaya wasn’t aiming at Shizuo’s face as usual. He dug the knife at the bandage, slicing open the first couple layers of it. Shizuo flinched away from the blade. 

 

“You were saying, Shizu-chan” Izaya said and watched as a few of the bandages began to fall off to reveal a bloody gauze pad underneath. Now he’d have to call in a nurse to rebandage that. 

 

He held up the bandages as much as he could and scowled.

 

“Fine, flea. I’ll come stay with you. But only for a week. One week.”

 

“I’m glad you came to your senses, Shizu-chan. I’m sure Celty will be able to get you safely to my home, right?”

 

“Tch. This doesn’t mean anything, flea.”

 

“Of course not, my dear protozoan. I never expected it to.”


End file.
